Word Play Day

I learned at the UCTE conference in November that word play is important for our students. For years I have loved words. I remember calling my mom after classes where we talked about British poetry and telling her how I could TASTE the words. Taste!? I'm sure she thought I was going crazy, but it is an experience I will never forget.

You dont have to wait until college literature courses to fall in love with words and the way the fall onto your tongue. So today we played word games and watched some fun videos that helped my students understand the musicality of ordinary words. Here are a few of the clips we watched:

haha, I may be an English nerd, but I feel that these are fun to watch. They make you want to say funny words. I had my students write down words that they found fun to say. I gave them a challenge to say at least one of those words 5 times throughout the day. They found the official definition of the word and practiced saying it. Really, they already knew what the word meant, but this helped solidify the word in their minds. (Plus, often times big, unknown words are the most fun to say).  Some of the classes had extra time to work with a group to make a song using their favorite fun words.

I loved it!!

Here is my list of fun words:

• bubbly
• superfluous
• befuddled
• meanderer
• pompous (especially fun to say when you relax your lips and cheeks)
• 
  

What words are on your list?